After the successes of the 2017 Workington to Sunderland Coast to Coast ride to celebrate the tercentenary of freemasonry and the much Covid delayed 2022 Morecambe to Bridlington Coast to Coast ride the provincial cycling team have been out on their bikes again, this time successfully completing the Coast & Castles 3 day cycle challenge from Friday August 30th until Sunday September 1st.
The ride which started at St Andrews square in Edinburgh and takes in some stunning scenery en route, along with a few big hills, passing through such towns as Dalkeith, Innerleithen, Melrose, Berwick, Bamburgh and Blyth along the route before terminating at Tynemouth Priory some 192 miles later.
The team of 39 riders all pledged a minimum of £250 to a local charity of their own choice, an 8 strong dedicated support team were on hand to cater for, and ferry around the riders who were primarily made up of members and family from our province, although there were riders from sister provinces such as Durham, Yorkshire West Riding and even Cumberland & Westmorland.
Mornings consisted of a 5:30am breakfast served up from the support team before commuting to and from the communal bunkhouse in Wooler to the designated start and finish points, the 3 days consisting of 56, 72 and 64 cycling miles respectively.
When the team come through the finish line as a group at 3:30pm on Sunday September 1st it was encouraging to see the flock of family, friends and general well wishers to applaud them through, also in attendance was the APGM of Northumberland W Bro John Bruce.
The event had a bitter sweet ending to it as the two young twin sons of Mr Colin Breckon, one of the riders from the 2022 event and a friend to many of the team and who was scheduled to be on this ride led the riders through the finish line, Colin who was a keen cyclist suddenly and unexpectedly passed away just 5 weeks before the ride at the age of 53, leaving a huge hole in the morale of the weekend.
Despite this setback the event was as ever a huge success, once again proving that the camaraderie of freemasonry transcends beyond the walls of Masonic halls and out into the great outdoors, the aching muscles, early morning starts but above all the laughs shared between the 47 strong team will not be forgotten in a hurry.
